Paid quarantine at hotels in Darjeeling

The district administration has decided to start “paid quarantine”
centres and has requisitioned a number of hotels in Darjeeling and
Siliguri.

Ponnambalam S, the district magistrate of Darjeeling, has confirmed the decision and said the hotels would charge nominal rates.

While
16 hotels from Darjeeling have been categorised in four groups, the
details of the Siliguri hotels were not immediately available.

The
category “A” hotels in Darjeeling are Mayfair Resort, Sinclairs,
Sterling Resort and Pine Tree. Those wanting to quarantine themselves in
these hotels will have to pay Rs 2,000 for single occupancy and Rs
2,500 for double occupancy per night.

The rates for Categories B, C and D single occupancy are Rs 1,500, Rs 1,200 and Rs 800 per night, respectively.

Anit
Thapa, the chairman of the board of administrators of the Gorkhaland
Territorial Administration (GTA), has appealed to hoteliers to look into
the possibility of offering their resorts as quarantine centres.

Following
Thapa’s call, two hotels in Darjeeling — Sanderling and Rink Heritage —
have offered their places for free stay a few days ago. The combined
room dossier of these hotels is 78.

While the district
administration has listed 16 hotels for paid quarantine, some of the
hotel managements said they were finding it hard to convince their
staff. “Some are not wanting to join work while others are saying that
their families won’t permit them to come to the hotel. We are keeping
our fingers crossed,” said a source in the hotel industry.

The
Roman Catholic Diocese of Darjeeling has written to the authorities
stating that they are willing to provide the infrastructure at 10
schools in the hills for quarantine.

Stephen Lepcha, the Bishop of the Darjeeling Diocese, said Thapa had approached him with the request.

Bishop
Stephen has, however, made a personal request “to spare all our
boarding institutions, since the parents and teachers have expressed
concerns on the safety of their wards”.

More than 12,000 people from the GTA had expressed their desire to return to the hills in an online application.

Non-essential
shops in Darjeeling downed their shutters on Saturday after opening for
a day, following a request from Anit Thapa.

B.M. Garg, the
president of the Darjeeling Chamber of Commerce, said their organisation
had taken the decision following Thapa’s call.

Darjeeling town
does not have any containment zones and as per government norms there
are many relaxations. “We came across GTA chairman Anit Thapa’s video
appeal and I also spoke to him personally. We have decided not to open
non-essential shops for some time,” said Garg.

https://www.telegraphindia.com

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The district administration has decided to start “paid quarantine” centres and has requisitioned a number of hotels in Darjeeling and Siliguri.
Ponnambalam S, the district magistrate of Darjeeling, has confirmed the decision and said the hotels would charge nominal rates.